Tuesday, March 14, 2017

On the eve
of the Ides of March we start with a cartoon -- Caesar with a contemporary twist.

My thanks to Guido Giuntini for allowing me to use this.

Does
everyone know the details of Caesar’s death? Perhaps a review would be helpful.

The Ides were
one of the three calendar divisions in the Roman month. In its original
version, the Roman calendar designated the date of the new moon as the start of the
Kalends, the date of the half moon the start of the Nones, and the date of the
full moon the Ides. Oddly, the Roman days were referenced by counting down to
the next period rather than counting up. So March 2 was VI Non Mar, or six days until the first day of
the Nones. When the month reached the Nones, days were counted down until the
Ides. After the Ides, the days were counted down until the start of the next
month. So the day after the Ides might be XV Apr – fifteen days until April.

In the year 44
BC, Caesar planned to address the Senate on the Ides but at the last minute
thought of cancelling the meeting because the auspices were negative. To make
matters worse, his wife had nightmares about him being assassinated on the
Ides, but Caesar dismissed these superstitions and kept the meeting as scheduled.

The
conspirators sent Caesar’s cousin to fetch him knowing that he would not raise
any suspicion. Then, with Caesar enroute, the conspirators waited with great
anxiety. They feared being discovered and could hardly endure the endless passage of
time. Finally Caesar arrived and took his seat. As the session began a Senator, Marcus Tillius
Cimber, requested that he be allowed to read a petition. As he moved forward, several
conspirators gathered around the dictator. Suddenly, Tillius seized Caesar’s
toga and pulled it down exposing his neck as a sign for the dagger blows to
begin. Caesar tried to rise and, according to one account, stabbed an adversary
with his stylus, before being overwhelmed. Suetonius says that Caesar shouted
“this is violence!”

As the attack continued, Caesar is
said to have pulled the toga over his head, after realizing he
would soon die in an attempt to retain some dignity in death. Shakespeare has
Caesar utter, “Et tu Brute (you too Brutus?), but these were the playwright's words written for dramatic effect. Their work complete, the
conspirators fled, either through fear
or shame at what they had done. Caesar's body lay alone in the chamber for some
time until it was retrieved by his slaves.

A physician was called in to examine Caesar’s body and counted 23 stab wounds. Only one was lethal, the
second blow struck, which entered his chest.